Tag: Slice of Life

The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 3 by Kousuke Oono
Series Name: The Way of the House Husband
Genres: Comedy, Contemporary, Slice of Life
Intended Age Group: Older Teen
Publisher: Viz
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 978-1-9747-1346-2
Rating: 3.5/5
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Description from the Book

The Immortal Dragon, once the fiercest member of the yakuza, is now a married man devoted to supporting his loving wife – as a househusband! But when the gangster-turned-homemaker needs to make some quick cash to buy her a present, he turns to the only skills he knows – and gets his first part-time job! The cozy yakuza comedy continues!

Personal & Info

This is a three and a half, and while some might think that’s low, it’s actually decent. Based on the system I use, it’s a good score. I use this score for things that are above average, but not outstandingly good.

This volume is funny enough to make me giggle, but the particular slice of life stories in the volume are not as great as the ones in the first volume. The fact it makes me giggle gets it that half score. If it were to excite me as much as, say, that one chapter in volume one where Tatsu criticizes the Roomba and the cat gets into shenanigans making a mess of everything, then it would earn that four.

Characters

Tatsu and Miku are the primary characters for each volume.

Masa appears to be a regular. He’s a “sworn brother” to Tatsu from his days as a yakuza.

Various other housewives make appearances at least once per volume.

Story & Thoughts

There appears to be a running theme of retired yakuza showing up with various generic jobs. They all take everything super seriously. Like the guy from volume two who has a crepe truck. It’s pretty great. We see two more in this book.

It looks like a possible overarching plot is being introduced. In a couple different chapters, there are people talking about something going on with the yakuza. Tatsu is not relevant to it as of yet, but it’s in his periphery.

Tatsu seems like a great husband. He tries hard to take care of all Miku’s needs, even if he doesn’t quite know how to handle it effectively sometimes. Falling for TV ads certainly is not helpful. It’s pretty amazing how he can do something in practically two seconds that neither Miku, nor Masa, seem to be able to. I think Miku would live in filth without him, and probably not eat nearly as well.

Masa seems to be taking some lessons to heart. His skills are more that of a beginner, so he needs more practice. He always wants to “guugle” things, which can be helpful, but this is often brought up at inconvenient times.

There are bonus chapters in every volume. Each one, so far, has at least one starring Gin, their family cat. I think those are the best ones.

The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 2 by Kousuke Oono
Series Name: The Way of the House Husband
Genres: Comedy, Contemporary, Slice of Life
Intended Age Group: Older Teen
Publisher: Viz
Edition: Paperback 
ISBN: 978-1-9747-1044-7
Rating: 3.5/5
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Description from the Book

The legendary yakuza “the Immortal Dragon” has washed his hands of the gangster life for something far more dangerous – becoming a househusband! Cleaning, laundry, grocery, shopping, cooking… These days he’s doing everything he can to succeed as man of the house, if it doesn’t kill him first! The cozy yakuza comedy continues!

Personal & Info

I’m learning Japanese with a phone app, and only recently started on it. I have designated days where I MUST work on blog related things, even if it’s just reading without actually posting anything. The day I read this, I was addicted to my Japanese app and had to make myself stop. Thankfully, this book is funny enough that I was giggling after the first couple pages. That made it so much easier to tear myself away from my phone for a while to get stuff done.

Characters

Tatsu and his wife Miku are the primary characters for each volume, but mostly Tatsu.

Masa will probably be making constant appearances. He doesn’t seem to do much aside from be amazed by Tatsu.

Tatsu spends his free time with a group of housewives. They will probably be frequent characters as a group. None of them have any names as of yet.

Story & Thoughts

I don’t think this one is quite as funny as the first volume. The book is still slice of life stories, but I don’t think they hit quite the same. They still make me giggle a little, so it earns a three and a half instead of just a three.

Tatsu is teaching Masa some househusband skills, which he doesn’t seem entirely interested in. That leads to some funny moments as Tatsu gets intense about subjects and Masa is just like, whatever bro. I think he appreciates the usefulness of the skills, but not necessarily the doing them himself part.

This volume shows how unreasonable some of Tatsu’s criteria for making simple choices is. He blows things out of proportion due to his background, because he wants everything to be safe to an unreasonable extent. I’m not sure how Miku puts up with it.

The in-laws come for a visit. The ones from Miku’s side of the family. I find it surprising they approve of Tatsu. Most parents would probably be appalled if their daughter brought home a gang member, retired or not.

I love how well Tatsu gets along with the other housewives. Obviously, they think he’s a little strange, but they seem fond of him. The parts where he does activities with them are some of the best parts of this volume, in my opinion.